An ice nucleating protein (INP) with 66% amino acid sequence identity to the better-known INP of Pseudomonas syringae has been described in an environmental isolate of P. borealis and designated InaPb. Despite the fact ...

Phosphorus (P) is a crucial plant macronutrient, as it is a constituent of essential biomolecules involved in nearly all major metabolic processes. However, soluble orthophosphate (Pi), the only form of P that roots directly ...

The Eph receptor tyrosine kinases are a highly conserved family of proteins involved in a variety of developmental processes. As well, the Eph receptors appear to play a pivotal role in the development and progression of ...

The overall objective of this thesis was to understand better the mechanisms that shape the diversity in colour vision of fish, and to explore the adaptive significance of this divergence. Among the vertebrates, teleost ...

Anthropogenic activities have led to widespread of heavy metal contaminants such cadmium and arsenic. When left untreated, they pose risk to both human and ecosystem health as well as further reduce arable lands. ...

Why do some species within crowded vegetation have greater numerical abundance than others? Functional traits are often explored as predictors of success under certain habitat conditions, and in the context of competition, ...

Sleep is an evolutionary conserved behaviour which in most species is essential for survival. However, the mechanisms involved in the genetic regulation of sleep remain poorly understood. C. elegans exhibit a number of ...

Because males and females of a species express many homologous traits, sex-specific selection on these traits can shift the opposite sex away from its phenotypic optimum. This mode of sexually antagonistic selection, known ...

An organism’s entire life history - the timing of development, reproduction, senescence and death - can depend on the nature of selection for reproductive age. The outcome of selection will depend both on the particular ...

Mental illness is prevalent in our population and has been studied for decades but is still poorly understood. Understanding the genetic and biological mechanisms underlying these disorders can lead to significant improvements ...

Global polar bear (Ursus maritimus) population numbers are expected to decline steadily over the next 50 years. A noninvasive genetic survey of polar bear numbers may be a useful addition to traditional aerial capture mark ...

Genetic patterns in many species are affected by environmental features that may enable or obstruct gene flow. Geographical isolation of conspecific individuals by uninhabitable expanses can lead to genetic separation. For ...

The development of molecular techniques has spurred thousands of population genetic studies on a wide variety of plant and animal species. Particularly important, but still relatively rare, are studies that properly test ...

Loss of the ssp1 protein kinase (CAMKK) gene results in stress sensitivity, cell elongation, slow growth and in some cases cell cycle arrest. In order to identify new components of the ssp1 stress response pathway, a ...

The advent of next-generation sequencing has significantly reduced the cost of obtaining large-scale genetic resources, opening the door for genomic studies of non-model but ecologically interesting species. The shift in ...

Sex-differences in phenotype, development, and life-history can alter the strength of selection experienced by males and females. In particular, theoretical models have demonstrated that differences in the strength of ...

The schedule of growth, reproduction and survivorship of an individual are the key components of life history, which reflect fitness performance of a genotype. Examining the variation in life history performance among ...

Anthropogenic climate change is resulting in a variety of consequences for ecosystems and biodiversity. Collectively these changes are negatively impacting species survival and are increasing rates of extinction. Species ...